Duke and Maryland push back rivalry game in NCAA women’s basketball series

ASFN Admin

Administrator
Administrator
Moderator
Supporting Member
Joined
May 8, 2002
Posts
1,266,087
Reaction score
59
There’s a lot of history between Duke and Maryland in women’s college basketball.

While the Blue Devils have 24 wins in the series against the Terrapins, Maryland defeated Duke for the 2006 national championship, the 2009 ACC championship and in the Sweet 16 in 2015. Meetings between the two sides became much less frequent when Maryland left the ACC for the Big Ten in 2014, so there was excitement among fans when they announced a non-conference home-and-home series in 2024.

But the second game in that series has been postponed.

After meeting in College Park, Maryland on Nov. 11, 2024 — a win for the Terps — Maryland was originally supposed to play a return game in Durham, North Carolina this upcoming season. But when Duke’s non-conference schedule was published earlier this week, the Terps weren’t on it.

Spokespersons for both Duke and Maryland confirmed to USA TODAY Sports that the second game in the series has been pushed back to the 2027 season. A spokesperson for the Blue Devils said it was due to “scheduling needs” for both teams.

It would have marked the first time Brenda Frese’s Terps have played in Cameron Indoor Stadium since 2013.

Since leaving the ACC, Maryland has made trips to face former rivals North Carolina in Carmichael Arena and NC State in Reynolds Coliseum. The Tar Heels defeated the Terps in the second round of the NCAA Tournament this past season in Chapel Hill.

In the first meeting of the home-and-home series between Duke and Maryland, the Terps held off a fourth-quarter comeback by the Blue Devils to win 85-80. Kaylene Smikle — who has since transferred to Tennessee — scored 23 points for the Terps.


After that meeting, former Duke guard Oluchi Okananwa transferred to Maryland. The MVP of the 2025 ACC Tournament for Duke, Okananwa was an All-Big Ten selection for Maryland this past season after averaging a career-best 17.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. She will be a senior this upcoming season and has become the interim president of the United College Athletes Association, an organization attempting to form a union for women's college basketball players.

Maryland hasn't released its women's basketball schedule for the upcoming season, but the Terps will open the 2026-27 campaign in Paris, France against South Carolina in the annual Oui Play game. For Kara Lawson's Blue Devils, their non-conference slate is highlighted by meetings with UConn, South Carolina and UCLA.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Duke and Maryland push back rivalry game in NCAA women’s basketball series

Continue reading...
 
Top